thanks for joining us. ♪ good evening, everyone, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. crisis in ukraine, new economic pun lishment for russia, and new violence. >> translator: right now the government in kiev are the pub -- puppets of the americans. russia follow the money. the billions at stake in the kremlin's standoff with ukraine. storm track, dangerous and deadly storms ripping through

the country, and recovery, the philippines battling back six months after a devastating typhoon. tonight in eastern ukraine, violence exploded in the streets. pro russia activists crashed a pro-government rally. they beat protesters with baseball bats. and in another major city the mayor was shot in the back. now the u.s. is imposing more sanctions against moscow. this is the fourth time the ups has gone this route. this time the focus is on seven russian officials and 17 companies with close ties to

vladimir putin. they will face travel bans and asset freezes. the u.s. is curving exports of high-tech products to russia. the european union says it will impose similar sanctions tomorrow. mike viqueira joining us now from manila. mike, what is the obama administration trying to achieve with this latest batch of sanctions? >> john, the white house says they are simply trying to ratchet up the existing sanctions. you described it, john, you have reported 7 individuals, 7 more individuals, the white house describes them as cronies or oligarchs, and 17 companies, those close to vladimir putin. but this is morin kri mental sanctions. there's no question the white house is trying to pull the

europeans along on broader sectors of the russian economy. the defense industry for example. in the meantime the white house comment on this is these are have a multiplying effect. a 12% decline in the russian stock market. a $60 billion in capital flight leaving russia, all trying to create the impression, is the white house that russia is really suffering from this. but they are having a difficult time bringing the europeans along on those broader sectoral sanctions. they had an agreement with the g-7 and they are still talking they are going to trigger those sanctions if the russians come across the border. but they'll hoping this approach

will gradually change his mind. >> mike what sort of measures are the white house considering if he doesn't change his mind? >> that's just it. these sanctions being held in abeyance, these brood-sectors of the russian economy. we have been talking about this ever since the g-7 in the hague last month when the president got those leaders all around the table and promised to impose those sanctions if vladimir putin were to continue his aggression and instigation into ukraine. the problem is there's no clear-cut trigger where those sanctions our would come in to place. the europeans have much more at stake, the president, his aids, have all acknowledged that. this is a very difficult ask of the europeans. they are trying to make the case that it is necessary to change

the behavior of president putin. >> mike, thank you. the state department's spokes woman were asked about those remarks. >> language like that just doesn't mesh with what we're seeing on the ground. we have seen a tremendous impact on the russian economy. impact on the stock market, the ruble, and if the russian leadership care about their people they should look at that as well. >> we'll have more on that later this hour. now back to eastern ukraine where men armed with baseball bats, bricks and stun grenades attacked pro-grenade demonstrators. >> there has been more violence

in eastern ukraine, specifically in the city of donetsk. the police report that at least a dozen people are injured. the other negative development was a shooting in ukraine's second city, kharkiv of the major. he is said to be in critical condition. he was shot in the back and has been operated on. at times he has been pro-russian, at other times he has been aligning himself to the government in kiev. suffice it to say, both sides are blaming the other for the shooting. so the drift continues at pace.

prorussia activists are taking control of more government buildings in eastern ukraine, hoda abdel hamid is on the ground in one of the towns that were targeted. >> reporter: it is becoming a routine mission for the pro-russian self-defense unit. this time their target was the local building. any police station next door is also under their control. >> translator: right now the government in kiev are the puppets of the americans. we're defending our people. we are the peaceful people. they are the ones who broke the truce. we haven't started any conflict. >> reporter: here like elsewhere, they met no resistance. and then with the help of their supporters, the new russian position was fortified. first the sandbags, then the tires, and finally complete blocks. once the barricades are up, it's

difficult to see how the ukrainian government will retake control of this building. this woman has come to the local council in the morning to do paperwork. >> translator: i supported the protests in kiev, but not when it got violent. they should stop calling us criminals when they did exactly the same thing in kiev. they have got to stop. there is no rule of law in ukraine. it's scary. >> reporter: but if this takeover was peaceful, the crisis is taking its toll elsewhere. protesters demanded russia state tv be put back on air. there was hope that the geneva agreement would be implemented, and that hope is all but gone.

and there's much more coming up on today's sanctions and the impact they might have. join us for our special, russia, follow the money coming up at the bottom of the hour. now to the conflict in the middle east and the controversy over the quote from secretary of state john kerry. he warned israel that israel is in danger of becoming an apartheid state. the comments were made in a meeting with foreign dignitaries kerry was describing the consequence of the peace process. >> reporter: explosive remarks by u.s. secretary of state john kerry, explosioning the united states government's growing frustration with the stalled talks between the israelis and palestinians. his comment had israelis fuming.

the former israeli ambassador to canada said kerry acteder responsibly. >> anyone who genuinely understands what apartheid is, wouldn't make such a comment. and coming from the secretary of state of the united states, i think shows an incredible amount of ignorance. >> the palestinians they the proof is on the ground. the separation wall behind me as become a symbol for the divisions between any israelis and palestinians. it is a structure that has been called a security fence by the israelis, but it has always been named the apartheid wall by many palestinians. palestinians welcomed kerry's statements and said that israel

should take note. >> the government is busy preparing for a one-state solution in which israel is clearly seen as an apartheid state. >> reporter: kerry said he could possibly draw up his own solution back in washington in which case they will have to, in his words, take it or leave it. and coming up tonight at 11:00 eastern time, i'll talk about kerry's remark with the former israeli consulate general. a court in cairo sentenced 683 people to death. they were accused of causing the violence that followed the ousting of mohammed morsi. the political climate in

egypt is the subject of a lawsuit by our parent company. al jazeera media network is filing suit against the government of egypt. the network says the government has inflicted huge financial losses on the network, threw what is described as a sustained campaign against al jazeera and its journalists. >> reporter: the al jazeera media network has invested millions of dollars in egypt since 2001. but now it is estimating losses of more than $150 million, and it's blaming it on any actions of the military-backed interim government since the ousting of mohammed morsi. after the military coup al

jazeera has been subjected to a sustained campaign of harassment and jamming of its air mission. they have raided their offices, shut it down, and confiscated equipment. a number of the journalists have been detained all remain in customer. now al jazeera said the 1999 treaty between qatar and egypt could compensate for their losses. up next, path of destruction, tornados rip through arkansas and oklahoma and more could be on the way. and flagrant foul, this is not the first time donald sterling

has faced allegations of racism. we'll look at his long troubling history coming up.

a mou powerful system is spinning off more tornados in the middle of the country tonight. the governor of mississippi declared a state of emergency earlier today, and people in arkansas, oklahoma, and kansas are still trying to recover after tornados tore through their neighborhoods, killing 17 people. >> the us in said it was coming, and the tv was flickering in and out, and when it went out, that's when me and my grandkids jumped in the car and drove off. >> and there is more severe weather on the way.

rebecca? >> we have already had 19 tornados reported today. and we can see a line stretching from louisiana all the way up across mississippi. we're going to continue to see this lyon of supercel storms overnight with very heavy rain included. you can see the series of reports. it didn't go in a line quite like arkansas tornados developed last night. they started at one point, and moved to the east, the ones in mississippi tonight seem to be rather scattered and then they develop on the back edge of the line of thunderstorms. as we move on from our radar, this is where we have tornado warnings and thunderstorm warnings impacting the southeast. and we have even have flood concerns up into the northeast as the storm system is working its way towards us. rain is increasing. flash floods definitely a

threat. and the line of tornado reports is impressive. the ones we're seeing now in the last few hours touch off in parts of western kentucky. it will be a dangerous night, and we talk about tornados, it is interesting to see an average of two twoerngds a year for washington state, and 150 where we would expect it in texas. and we had a tornado yesterday in washington state. incredible stormy weather across the entire country this week, john. >> reporter: and as you know how to measure the intensity is tricky, but the damage left behind tells the story as jake ward explains. >> reporter: science can only truly measure a tornado off it disappeared and even then we wind utmost the time just guessing. there's no way to measure the wind speed of a twister at its

most dangerous moment, all we can do is analyze the damage left behind. the enhanced scale, which is named for a university of chicago researches rates a tornado between ef-1 and ef-5. but it's like not the rickter scale. it's a measure just of damage. and guesses at the wind speeds that might have caused that damage. it only measures the effect of a tornado, not what is going on inside. the national weather service simply cannot afford to send damaged survey teams by helicopter. so only the most terrible scenes gets a sesdzed. only the united states experiences the truly bad

tornados. only the u.s. consistently feels year after year the true power of attorneyed. the area known as tornado valley is the world capitol, incoalmos exclusively of ef-4 and 5 events. it looks at 28 categories of ground objects when assessing damage. this includes lightning polls, and damage to those ground objects. but the scale looks mostly at buildings. farms, single and double-wide trailers are listed, big box retail buildings, the list also includes strip malls and shopping plazas. we assess tornados based on how they tear apart the stuff that is particular to us that we build here, that more than

anyone else makes tornados a very american type of disaster. president obama heads home tonight after an 8-day trip to asia. earlier today the president was guest of honor in the fip peens after signing a new security agreement there. it gives the u.s. greater access to bases. and sets aside money to help the region in the event of another devastating typhoon, like typhoon high an. >> we have to work together to accomplish things that we couldn't achieve on our own. that's what we saw last year, when the typhoon devastated so many communities. we worked as one to rescue victims and deliver life-saving aid. that's what friends do for each, and mr. president i want to say to you and the people of the philippines, the united states will continue to stand with you, as you recover and rebuild, our

commitment will not wave. ned has been on the ground overseeing the recovery since day one. he join ls us villa skriep from manila. what has struck you about the people on the ground who have been struggling to get back? >> thank you. it's nice to be on this show. tremendous resilience, i think is what we have seen. this is the third year in a row that there have been catastrophic typhoons hitting the philippines. when experts look at the mortality figures. it doesn't tell you the full story of the amount of dodge we're talking about. 1.1 million homes that were destroyed, that's twice as many as other significant emergencies like in -- like this pakistan, seven times the number in haiti.

so i think the people are doing what they can. they are pretty resilient, forward thinking people. >> where does the recovery stand right now? >> well, there has been quite a bit of progress. i think that if you look at, for example, specifically, health facilities over 2,000 health facilities were destroyed in the tie phone, and there was approximately half of them were -- were back up and running at -- with normal services. so that leaves really a large number of the population that is unrecovered. people are really doing what they can. i was in [ inaudible ] just about two weeks ago, and we saw a grandmother out in the field, rice field that had just been harvested and she was collecting individual rains of rice to feed her family, so some people are doing better than others, some

are just surviving. i think there's a great variety, depending upon the impact. >> dave it's good have you on the program. again, good luck with your work. thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you, john. probasketball is in turmoil tonight. the los angeles clippers corporate sponsors are abandoning that team. the owner accused of making racist comments on tape, saying he doesn't want black people coming to clippers games. >> are you a ratest mr. sterling? >> reporter: in a new video, clippers owner donald sterling refused to respond to allegations of racism. >> not true? >> no, of course. >> reporter: his wife of more than 50 years now defending him publicly. the fire storm stems from this private recording released on

tnz's website. it's reportedly a conversation between sterling and his ex-girlfriend arguing about an instagram photo she took with magic johnson. >> reporter: in recordings released by this website, sunday, the man reported to be sterling is heard discouraging his alleged girlfriend from bringing african-americans to clippers games. >> reporter: this isn't the first time sterling has been

accused of racism. five years ago the former clipper's manager unsuccessfully sued sterling for discrimination. that same here sterling settled a million million dollars lawsuit after he was accused of discriminating against african-americans and latae knows with apartment buildings he owned? los angeles. the l.a. chapter of the naacp was asked why they gave him a lifetime award. >> his organization gave more money to the minority community than others. >> reporter: the nba is expected to discuss its investigation on tuesday, and clippers players have remained unified turning

their jerseys inside out in protests against sterling before the playoff game sunday. >> we're playing, and that's our message. >> reporter: coach doc rivers insists team that's focus is on beating the golden state warriors, what if that may be a discult task with protests planned here before the game. up next, russia follow the money, russia's rich and powerful hit with new sanctions. a look at the impact they could have, and whether they will end the ukraine crisis. and explosioning putin's own vast wealth and his close ties to russia's biggest, richest companies.

russian corporations, and the oligarchs in vladimir putin's inner circle, now face new sanctions. >> the goal here is not to go after mr. putin personally, the goal is to change his calculus. >> but will the strategy get putin to change course in

ukraine? tonight our special report, russia, follow the money. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. it was two months ago that the crisis in ukraine erupted in flames this kiev. the white house says russia has been raising tensions there all along. last month vladimir putin admitted that russian troops were on the ground in crimea. that region voted to split off from ukraine, and was officially annexed by russia back in march. since then pro-russia activists have seized buildings in eastern ukraine, and russian troops have staged military drills along the border. washington has responded with sanctions four times now. peter greste is in moscow are more. >> reporter: all of the latest names and companies have strong links to vladimir putin. as the u.s. tries to up the pressure on the russian leader

by hitting them close to him. this man was in charge of planning the winter olympics, and the boss of the russian o oiling giant. they all join others close to putin already on the list. the west says its sanctions so far have already had an impact by scaring investors into pulling $65 billion out of russia's economy. also this year, the key stock index as been down by about 15%, while russia's currency, the ruble has lost 9% of its value since january. russia also said it would deny export of any high-tech

equipment that could be helpful to the military. >> increasing the scope of the sanctions placed on russia is the right response to the failure to implement the geneva agreement, and the continued destabilization of eastern ukraine. >> reporter: the kremlin said the sanctions would not go unanswered, and the response would be painful to washington. this latest set of sanctions is unlikely to cause the kremlin much pain, but it knows that lying down the road there are more far-reaching sanctions that would hit energy, banking, and defense, and these would have a serious effect on the russian economy. peter sharpe, al jazeera, in moscow. >> reporter: washington announced the new sanctions as the president was in the

philippines. we have heard the russians say publicly these sanctions might not hurt moscow all that much. what is president obama's strategy on this? >> john, basically the white house is making a virtue of necessa necessity. the white house officials telling reporters traveling with the president last night that the sanctions are still out there. they really want to make the point that this is a threat that is still very much alive. so essentially they are trying to say as peter reported, there are ripples through the russian economy. and the sanctions are greater than the sum of their part. a lot of people dismissed them as incremental. even the president said these are calibrated, he doesn't know if they are going to work, which is another way of saying we still have these other much more dramatic sanctions in the queue.

so they are trying to demonstrate that putin's economy will suffer and continue to suffer unless he changes course. >> have these prior sanctions been effective at all? >> reporter: well the prior it's just that, 17 organizations affiliated with the prior sanctions. the white house is trying to sell this as a step by step approach. >> the heard some members of congress say today the president simple isn't doing enough to punish russia. what else is there? >> yeah, this is really a sore point with the president. i have been watching these press

conferences, and it really culminated yesterday. you can see he's getting very agitated at the suggestion he is not doing enough. the question yesterday was the, quote unquote, obama doctrine effective? and he said i don't understand why people think we should be use military force in all circumstances. he said the diplomatic approach is the only pragmatic way of dealing with the crisis right now. so this is something that the president is very sensitive about. yesterday dismissing the criticism, somebody sitting in an office in new york or d.c. wants me to launch a military strike just so they can go on

television and say the u.s. looks strong, and the president dismissed that. >> he has had a lot on his plate during his trip to asia. mike thank you very much. the president's critics say today's sanctions still don't go far enough. i talked to the statest department spokesman and ask her what prompted today's announcement. >> we said from the beginning that if russia continued to take steps that were illegal, that moved their efforts further into ukraine, that there would be con see sequences. we have already seen the impact on sanctions and the impact on the economy of russia, and economic tools are one of the most powerful tools we can use to change the behavior in

russia. >> why do you think they will work now when they haven't worked in the past? >> well, they have worked. the projection for economic growth are now in the negative numbers. they have had to spend billions of dollars on their own stock market. the ruble has been declining. these are all signs of the impact -- or impact of what we have done when it comes to sanctions -- >> but it seems that russia's aggression has increased as well. >> well, we don't expect that things will change overnight, but there's no question that the russian people are going to see what the impact of these sanctions are, and that should have an impact on the actions. >> do you think the kremlin is really taking the u.s. seriously? >> well, language like that, just doesn't mesh with what

we're seeing on the ground. and the facts are that we have seen a tremendous impact on the russian economy. whether it's an impact on the stock market, the ruble, or projections or economic growth, and if the russian leadership cares about the russian people they should be looking at those factors as well. >> i'm sure you heard what senator bob corker from tennessee said, he called at it slap on the wrist. is this a watered-down approach? >> absolutely not. we have sanctioned individuals who are corrected to president putin. and we have seen the impact on the russian economy. there are many people out there who want to play games with what should and shouldn't happen here, but there is no military solution to the situation in ukraine. there's no way that the ukrainian military can come up to par with the russian

military. and the best assistance we can provide is putting in place economic help, and also taking steps to deter actions by the russians. >> jen, how coordinated is this approach with the european union? are they willing to stay the course and even get tougher with these sanctions? this >> well, there's no question that europe has a stronger connection to russia economically than the united states, however, the steps russia has been taking are illegal. we have been working in lock step with our european partners, they have indicated they are also prepared to announce another round of sanctions. we have been working in close touch with them about a round of sectoral sanctions if the situation should warrant. so we never expected it would be exactly the same sanctions.

it's about taking complementary parallel steps. >> so if russia continues its aggression, the united states will continue with more sanctions. >> yes, if they continue to take further steps there will be more punishment. each round of sanctions tightens people and companies believed to be coupled to his wealth. david shuster reports. in public, russian president, vladimir putin refers to himself as a humble servant. he reported his salary last year 5.8 billion rubles or about $187,000. and estimated his total net

worth at about 5 thoundz. but for years there is speculation that he is super rich. he could be worth as much as $70 billion. he owns 37% of the shares in an oil company, and 4.5% of the largest natural gas supplier in the world. the companies have murky ownership structures, and shareholder information is not public. health in russia is often held through front companies. but years ago rumors even met condoleezza rice. she cited a russian opposition source who said that putin, was, quote, nervously seeking to secure his immunity through alleged illegal proceeds.

an opposition group says putin's watch collection alone is worth 7 thoundz. a fie years ago he gave a $10,000 watch to a siberian boy he met on vacation. another putin critic, issued a report in 2012 that said putin has access to 50 aircraft, 20 homes, multiple yachts. putin said they are all state property. the fact is only putin and his closest friends may know the full extent of his fortune, but if it's close to $70 billion, that would put him near bill gates the wealthiest man on the planet. and joining us to talk about the increased economic pressure

on russia hah president vladimir putin and his associates is mark man us. welcome. >> good to be here. >> how is russia's economy really doing? >> not very well. the spokesperson from the state department was quite accurate in her description of the russian economy is under. it has not performed this poorly since the global economic crisis in 2009. the trends are all sharply negative. inflation is above target. the ruble is weakening. the stock market is down. it really is a mess. and i'm long thought that the price that russia would pay for intervening in ukraine and annexing crimea would be primarily a natural market reaction when investors see behavior like that, when they see a country invade and annex a

neighboring is country, that quite frankly spooks them. just in the first couple of months this year, 10sover millions of dollars fled this country. >> what does it mean for average russians? >> so far it has not filtered down to the man on the streets. but that can only last so long. the russian economy was slowing over most of the past year and a half, but still at full employment. wages were still increasing modestly and so most people didn't feel much of an impact. but if current trends continue for much longer, they will. you have a large number of pensioners on fixed incomes, and you have large percentage of the population that spends quite a lot of their income on things

that are very sensitive to inflation. >> what about the new sanctions? >> i don't think the new sanctions will have much of a direct impact, in terms of how the average russian experiences it. they clearly will complicate matters, but the sanctions that have been instituted so far are still pretty modest in their scope, and i don't think they will have much of an overimpact -- >> do they really hurt vladimir putin's friends? >> his close circle is known as a very loyal group of people. i think it would take quite a lot to convince then to turn against him. i think it would need to be much more radical and drastic, and i don't think anyone is really weighing those options right now. >> what about investors putting money into russia? >> well, that has come to a

complete halt. already this year, almost as much capital has fled as in all of 2013. so foreign investment has never been -- even when russia's economy was doing very well, foreign direct investment was never that high, it is going to go to almost nothing now, and it's going to have a very, very severe problem with capital flight. >> other than cutting off fuel to europe, is there anything else economically that russia can do to fight back? >> it's options are pretty limited, you know. i do think that much more drastic sanctions aren't really going to happen, because the europeans won't go along with it. but the russians are dependant on selling that energy. it's possible that they try to cut some supplies to europe and

reroute some of that oil to china, but a lot of the infrastructure really isn't in place for the russians -- certainly to sell their natural gas to china. maybe years down the line, but as of now, the russian economy is very dependant on energy, and they need to sell that. >> mark great information. it's great to have you on the program. thank you. >> thank you. >> as we continue our special, russia, follow the money. sanctions on russia could be just the start. we'll look at the potential ripple effect on the u.s. economy and beyond.

>> announcer: an al jazeera, special report, russia, follow the money. >> with the u.s. rachenning up sanctions today, the question remains will the strategy work. wesley clark, the general, spoke

to our ali velshi out in los angeles. he said it is important to keep up the pressure on russia. >> it's a lot less expensive for the united states to act now to deter putin. sanctions may work. there is no one who could say sanctions won't work. but putin wants ukraine real bad, and he has been working for it for a long time. and from his standpoint, he might rationalize it as okay, i'm going to pay a price in the short-term, but we'll recover from that, and in two or three years when ukraine is prosperous and stable and part of new russia, then the west will trade with us anyway. in 1991 when the soviet union collapsed russia's economic ties with the rest of the world were virtually non-exist important. now thanks have changed.

a few american companies like boeing and exxon mobil are big in russia. boeing sold about $2 billion worth of equipment to russian airlines in 2013. exxon mobil has a joint $3.2 billion deal with russia. russia petroleum company to hunt for oil in the black sea and russian arctic waters. but all of this pails in comparison to russia's trade with the european union. joining us now to talk about this is axle merck. axle, welcome. >> great to be with you. >> how are the markets responding to all of this? >> well, they have been responding gradually, the rebel has weakened, the russian stock

market hasn't been doing so well, but this latest announcement of additional ang shuns, i haven't really seen any additional response. in my view it's mostly cosmetic. >> so what sectors of the russian economy have been affected so far? >> well, you don't see it on the street at this stage. what has been affected is the access to credit. western banks, but also asian banks are very reluctant to extend credit. and clearly the russians or russian banks have learned how to conduct business, but when you run an economy that needs to borrow money, then you have some challenges. as far as day-to-day is concerned, the overall impact has been limited. >> we mentioned a couple of corporations that do business with russia, big business,

boeing and exxon mobil, but there are others. the question is really whether or not the united states and/or europe could be effected and hurt by what is going on. >> if you take a company like exxon, first of all the [ inaudible ] i believe with whom they do the arctic exploration, just today agreed that they will proceed, and so -- and even if there are sanctions, exxon is a hugely diversified business and face challenges all the time. there are clearly thousands of companies in europe that conduct business with eastern europe, and russia knows that very well. conversely, of course, russia is depe dependant on getting the proceeds from selling the gas. but leaders of countries sometimes have very different

priorities, and putin may have a strategic priority in dealing with ukraine, and he is going to sacrifice the short-term growth and profitability, so his incentives are not about stock prices. his incentives are far more strat strategic. >> could this crisis have an impact on the price of gas lease, let's say in the united states and or europe. >> it already has. but, yes, i mean wheat price, russia being the world's largest wheat exporter, wheat prices are impacted and gas prices are impacted as well. so while in the u.s. there are only a few large businesses that conduct business there, if the european union suffers on this, that slow has an impact on the

u.s. >> what would it take for big time investors to go back into russia now? >> well, just like in any market what you need is clarity. it doesn't really matter if taxes or regulation are high, but you want to know what are the rules of engagement, and when you don't know if sanctions will be more severe, so you will stay away. >> axle merck, it's good to see you have. thank you for providing your incite. >> my pleasure. in the crisis in ukraine, sanctions on russian officials are adding up the most recent u.s. sanctions target 7 influential russians including members of vladimir putin's

inner circle. one of the most notable figures is the president of the state-run oil company. there are have now been four rounds imposed on russia. the u.s. warns it is prepared to take more steps if russia refuses to change coarse in ukraine. and here is an image that caught our attention today. it's a pro-russian militia member putting an assault rifle in the hands of a small child. headlines coming up in just a second. wnload it now

welcome to al jazeera america, i'm john siegenthaler in new york.

here are tonight's top stories. the u.s. has announced a new round of sanctions against russia. it's washington's latest attempt to diffuse the crisis in ukraine. 7 individuals and 17 companies with close ties to president putin will face travel bans and asset freezes. the european union is set to announce similar sanctions tomorrow. on the ground in eastern ukraine, pro-russian groups attack pro-government protesters in the city of donetsk with baseball bats and bricks. and the mayor of ukraine's second largest city has been hospitalized after being shot in the back. deaths reported in alabama from a severe storm system blowing through the south. at least 17 people killed. the national weather is tracking the powerful storm, this is

generating more tornado watches and warnings in mississippi, tennessee, alabama. that's it for us. i'll see you back here at 11:00, 8:00 pacific time for the news. ♪ ♪ on "america tonight" -- >> oh, my god! there there's a tornado! [ screaming ] >> millions in the path of what could be days of killer weather. what is behind this massive destruction? also tonight is it good news or just money? the often down side of a